1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to devices for retrieving or picking up a golf ball, such as picking up and removing a golf ball from a cup on a golf course green, and, more particularly, is concerned with a golf club handgrip end mountable golf ball retrieving device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has been estimated that an average golfer bends over more than seventy times during a round of golf. This poses a major problem for many golfers in that due to an assortment of medical conditions they experience pain in their back, hips and/or knees in stooping or bending from a standing position and so have difficulty in playing a round of golf. Further, the golfing population has an increasing number of seniors and handicapped golfers who experience this same difficulty due to inability to stoop or bend from a standing position. As a result, many of these golfers have little choice but to quit playing golf.
A variety of devices have been proposed in the prior art to reduce the need for golfers to have to stoop or bend during a round of golf. Representative of such prior art devices are the ones disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,904,200 to Jackle et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,661 to Attig, U.S. Pat. No. 4,616,826 to Trefts, U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,250 to Henthorn, U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,938 to Hill, U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,961 to Milano, U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,947 to Kopfle, U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,357 to Wolf and U.S. Pat. No. 5,306,000 to Comella. While most of these prior art devices appear to be satisfactory in use for the specific purposes for which they were designed, none of them seem to provide a specific solution for the problem at hand. Most of these prior art devices enable the placing of a ball and a tee in the ground without bending over but fail to address the problem of retrieving a ball from a cup without bending over and fail to be sufficiently small in size as to be easily and conveniently carried in a golfer""s pocket. U.S. Pat. No. 2,943,856 to Eimerman discloses a golf ball and tee handling device which is relatively small in size and adapted to be mounted to an end of a handle portion of a golf club to enable the placing of a ball and tee in the ground without bending over. A clip is provided on the device so that it may be attached to a golf bag or to wearing apparel of the golfer for convenient portability when it is not in use. This device also fails to address the problem of retrieving a ball from a cup without bending over.
Also, it is known in the prior art to provide a suction cup attached in some manner to the handgrip of a putter to reduce the need for golfers to have to stoop or bend during a round of golf to retrieve or pick up a golf ball and, particularly, to remove the golf ball from the cup on a golf course green. However, the use of a suction cup raises the following problems. First, to be used effectively the suction cup needs to be permanently taped to the handgrip end of the putter. Many golfers find the presence of the suction cup on the grip end of the putter to be unacceptable in that it interferes with their use of the putter. Second, suction cups over time tend to dry out and thus loose their ability to couple with the golf ball and lift it from the cup. Third, the suction cup sometimes becomes detached from the putter handgrip end when the putter is removed from the golf bag. The suction cup thus ends up in the bottom of the golf bag.
Consequently, a need still exists for an innovation which will provide an effective solution to the aforementioned problems without introducing new problems in place thereof.
The present invention provides a golf ball retrieving device designed to satisfy the aforementioned need. The golf ball retrieving device of the present invention is mountable on a golf club handgrip end for use in retrieving or picking up a golf ball and when not in use is removed and folded to a compact condition for storing in a pocket of the golfer""s clothing or golf bag. The golf ball retrieving device of the present invention effectively eliminates all of the problems experienced heretofore with the use of suction cups.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a golf ball retrieving device which comprises: (a) a support bracket having upper and lower ends; and (b) an expandable ball holder member including (i) a pair of arms having respective inner end portions and respective outer end portions extending from the inner end portions and capable of being flexed away from one another and being of oppositely curved configurations, and (ii) an intermediate structure extending between and rigidly interconnecting the arms at the respective inner end portions thereof, the intermediate structure being pivotally connected to the lower end of the support bracket such that the expandable ball holder member is pivotally movable between a first position in which the expandable ball holder member extends alongside the support bracket so as to place the retrieving device in a folded compact condition and a second position in which the expandable ball holder member extends transverse to the support bracket outwardly from the lower end of the support bracket and beyond the support bracket so as to place the retrieving device in an unfolded deployed condition in which when the retrieving device is used to retrieve a golf ball the respective outer end portions of the arms are forced against the golf ball causing the outer end portions to flex outwardly away from one another so as to fit around and support the golf ball for lifting the golf ball.
Additionally, the support bracket has a pair of opposite lateral sides extending between the upper and lower ends of the support bracket and a transverse opening formed through the lower end of said support bracket and between and open at the opposite lateral sides thereof. Also, the intermediate structure of the expandable ball holder member includes a first cross shaft which extends between and rigidly interconnects the respective inner end portions of the arms of the expandable ball holder member and is received within the transverse opening formed in the lower end of the support bracket such that the first cross shaft rotates within the transverse opening so as to pivotally mount the expandable ball holder member to the support bracket for undergoing the pivotal movement between the first and second positions.
Further, the support bracket has opposite rear and front sides extending between the upper and lower ends of the support bracket and first and second transverse recesses formed in the lower end of the support bracket respectively at the opposite rear and front sides of the support bracket and extending between and open at the opposite lateral sides thereof. The intermediate structure of the expandable ball holder member further includes a second cross shaft spaced from the first cross shaft and extending between and rigidly interconnecting the respective inner end portions of the arms of the expandable ball holder member and receivable within one or the other of the first and second transverse recesses formed in the lower end of the support bracket respectively at the rear and front sides thereof upon pivotal movement of the expandable ball holder member correspondingly to one or the other of the first and second positions. The first transverse recess faces generally away from the upper end of the support bracket.
The ball retrieving device further comprises means on the upper end of the support bracket for removably mounting the support bracket to an end of a handgrip of a golf club for using the golf club to manipulate the retrieving device in retrieving a golf ball. More particularly, the means for removably mounting the support bracket is a connector member having upper and lower ends and being fixedly attached at the lower end to the upper end of the support bracket. The connector member is generally circular in cross-section and smaller in diameter at the upper end than at the lower end such that the connector member progressively decreases in size at least going from an intermediate portion thereof between the upper and lower ends thereof to the upper end thereof such that the upper end is generally pointed to facilitate insertion of at least a portion of the connector member into a hole in the end of the handgrip of the golf club so as to assume a close frictional fitting relationship therewith.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein there is shown and described an illustrative embodiment of the invention.